Fox entertainment chairman Gary Newman confirms for TV Insider (aka TV Guide Magazine‘s new website) that the network is developing an X-Men TV series — no easy feat, given that while 20th Century Fox has film rights to the specially abled characters, any live-action TV project requires the blessing of Marvel, which is based out of ABC parent Disney.

“We’re cautiously optimistic, we had a good meeting with them,” Newman told the site, noting that any possible X-Men show “will not be on a fast track creatively.” Rather, it’d bow during the 2016-17 TV season at earliest.

Because of the delicate particulars involved, “This is just the deal,” Newman noted. “[N]ow we have to find the creative.”